Res Life Update from Kelly!

Hey X!

I hope your summers have all been phenomenal! The last month has been pretty busy for me, as there are officially 32 days left until Frosh Week!!

The Student Orientation Committee, which works to plan Frosh Week, has been working hard – and we’re excited to say the events have all been finalized …INCLUDING THE CONCERT …which will be announced next week! The waiting continues, but not for much longer!

In the past 90 days, the RLCs and I have been working hard to plan Training Week for the House Presidents and Residence Life Staff. This year, the House Presidents will be traveling to Scotian Glen Camp to spend a couple days getting to know each other and doing sessions – so we’ll be hitting the cabin bunks for a few nights!

The House Presidents have all done phenomenal jobs designing their house shirts and many are being printed this minute – so they will be ready for you first-years out there when you arrive on September 1^st!

Meaghan Carmichael and Brandon Hamilton (House Council Coordinators this year) have been working hard on the House Council system this year – so if you’re interested in getting involved, make sure you talk to your House Presidents – as this year it’s going to be something you don’t want to miss out on!

Hockey cups this year have been finalized, and I’m happy to say that there will be a Commemorative Messis Cup! So if you’re from Plessis or lived in MSB you’re more than welcome to play again!

Last week, Amy (VP Union Services) and I had ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training), which taught us how to better address suicide and how to help those who may be having thoughts about it. If you want more information about this, feel free to ask!

All in all, August is going to be a busy one, but I CANT WAIT to see all of your faces back on campus again!!!

32 days ‘til the best week of your lives (again, if you’re in upper years)!

Start collecting all that blue and white, it’s going to get R-O-W-D-Y! 

@Kel_2the_Nel

The Highland Games

Hola all,

This summer the Executive Team here at the U were lucky enough to experience the 150^th anniversary of the Antigonish Highland Games!  What are the Highland Games? WELL:

The Antigonish Highland Games began in 1863 and consists of a variety of Scottish and Celtic inspired events to celebrate lovely Antigonish culture and history! In the late 1860’s, when the 78^th Highlanders were garrisoning at the Citadel in Halifax, they travelled to Antigonish to take part in the Highland Games. They took the train to New Glasgow, and then marched through the woods with wagons to get to Antigonish! They were the first ever pipe band to participate in the events, which is one of the reasons why pipe bands and players are so common throughout the Nish all week!

There were tons of unreal competitions on the weekend of the Games, and some of us had the chance to cheer our own buddies on in events such as the Elite Mile competition, the Highland Dance competition and the Tug of War. Other competitions such as the Scottish Heavy Events and the Farmers Walk were super entertaining and really demonstrated the old-fashioned Scottish culture that IS the Highland Games!

                      

 

Other events that were more casual included the “Stroll the Main Sidewalk Fair” – which most of our team attended. This included a variety of booths demonstrating different services and talents throughout the Nish as well as a DOG FASHION SHOW where your Exec team got a backstage seat!!! There was also the Grand Street Parade, which kicked off all of the weekend field events and competitions! Just wonderful. 

             

For most of our team, however, the most exciting part of the week were the more bumpin’ events such as the Fourth Well and Party Boots shows at the Pub and the Signal Hill (a StFX favourite) show at the party tent the final Saturday of the Games!

It was so awesome seeing so many new faces as the town filled up with crowds of people who came together in kilts and Scottish gear for a week of BEAUTIFUL weather and unreal celebrations! It was nothing short of an amazing experience, and we are definitely hoping to come back one summer to take on a second round of a jam-packed week of fun and Celtic spirit! IONTACH AMANNA!

- Taylor M.

http://www.antigonishhighlandgames.ca

Campus Trust Conference

Hello all,

Here goes my update from the Union Services office! So about a week ago, Sean, Julieanne and I travelled to St. John’s, Newfoundland to attend the Assembly of Participating Organizations for the Campus Trust (our Health and Dental plan program!). Not only was this my first time in Newfoundland (and was I ever in awe!) but it was an amazing opportunity to better understand the Campus Trust and get to know the other board members that we will be working with throughout the year.

While at the conference, we attended presentations surrounding the Trust and other aspects of Health and Dental plans on campuses across Canada. I’m going to let you folks in on a little secret—we are a part of a pretty amazing thing happening in the Student Health and Dental plan realm across the country.  I hope to tell you all a little bit more about this amazing thing known as the Campus Trust.

So what is the Campus Trust? A Board of Trustees comprised of representatives (students and staff) from 9 Student Unions and Associations from across Canada manages the Campus Trust. As Trustees, it is our goal to provide the best plan possible with the investment that students make when they opt into our Health and Dental Plan. While many Health and Dental plans are shaped exclusively by the Insurance Companies or Brokers which provide them, members of the Campus Trust have the unique opportunity to take our plans into our own hands—that means we can determine the coverage that we need and the companies that can best provide this. While decision making is executed in a co-operative structure, each member association has the opportunity to shape their plan to fit the needs of their own student body—that means theU’s plan is specifically tailored to fit our student community here at X. This is an awesome aspect of the Trust—we have the power of the collective, but the space to make decisions that directly affect our own student body.

From a Students’ Union point of view, accountability and transparency are of upmost importance in providing any sort of service for students. Another great thing about the Trust is that it provides just this. Foremost, each member association has access to detailed reports on the claims history of their plan, including what benefits are being accessed the most and which months are higher in terms of use. This means that we know how our benefits are being used and how to continue to make adjustments to the plan to benefit students.

The structure of the Trust also allows for greater control over price fluctuations. While many plans are subject to increases in price each year designated by the insurance provider or broker, member schools of the Campus Trust have the ability to manage the benefits on individual school plans to better accommodate for these changes so that the rate that students pay remains fairly stable.

Lastly, a goal of the Campus Trust schools is to have the Health and Dental plans  break even (so that the amount of money paid into the plan is equal to the amount in claims). However, because of the natural fluctuations in claims that occur from year to year, this is not always the case.  With many other school plans, the insurance company or broker manages this surplus, with little to no input from the Students’ Union or Association. The cool thing about the Trust is that any surplus we may have at the end of the year goes back into our plan so that we can provide additional coverage to our students.

All the members of the Campus Trust 

So why does all this matter? Each year when you opt into theU’s Health and Dental plan, you can rest assured that you are going to receive a great service—not only because the Trust gives us the ability to offer some great (and diverse!) coverage, but also because you know that through every step of the process, the students’ best interests are what matter most!

Until next time,

Amy

The SUB gets a Facelift!

Over the summer the Bloomfield Center is getting a few updates which we think you'll enjoy! First off, the third floor lounge is getting completely remodelled! Which means new (comfortable) furniture, with more tables and study space!!! Yay for more study space! Whats awesome about this update is the fact that there will be doors separating the lounge from the rest of the third floor so that if you want to rent it for a private function its easy to close off and there won't be outside distractions. This will be an excellent location to host coffee houses, as it will be spacious but still cosy. They will be taking the bar area out, and moving it to a different location, and there will also be screens available, incase you need breakout rooms around the lounge. There will also be new lighting installed so say good-bye to the crazy old school celling lights. They just started the renovations today, here's a peak of the very empty lounge!

Almost all of the furniture has been removed, and they are about to start the remodelling! 

Another area of the SUB that is getting remodelled is the Inn Patio! The clunky old benches have been removed (it looks so big now), and we will be getting tables with umbrellas to put in their place. Can you say patio apps and drinks!? We can't wait for September when the Inns food menu will be back in full force, with some delicious new additions! Gareth will be posting later on in the month about some of the awesome new features that the Inn will be taking on, with one special announcement pertaining to the dance floor! We're currently in the midst of planning all the upcoming events for the year as well as strengthening staples such as Wing Night, Trivia and the Mug Club. 

The falling off the bench days are gone! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and see you in September! Is it wing night yet?